Lemon loaf cake ... a dessert which needs no introduction. A perfect tea-time partner which is loved by kids and adults alike. And the best part is that it's eggless, and made without the use of butter or an otg oven. This cake recipe is made using a microwave, which means the cake is baked in minutes. A soft sponge cake made using lemon juice and zest and orange zest for the perfect zesty flavour, which is then baked to perfection, And a silky smooth sigar glaze is poured on it which completes the flavour and tastes heavenly. You can alternatively add whipped cream or butter cream instead of the glaze. The variations to this cake are endless. Check out the step-by-step picture instructions and od try it out. Let me know in the comments section on how it turned out.
Ingredients:
For the sponge:
Sugar- 3/4 cup
Curd- 3/4 cup (room temperature)
Oil- 1/2 cup
Lemon zest- 2 tsp
Orange zest- 1tsp
All purpose flour-1.25 cups
Baking powder- 1 tsp
Baking soda- 1/4 tsp
Salt- a pinch
Lemon juice- 2 tbsp
Milk- 1/3 cup
For the Glaze:
Icing sugar- 1 cup
Lemon juice- 1 tbsp
Milk- 2 tbsp
For the Sugar syrup
Water- 1/2 cup
Lemon juice- 1 tbsp
Sugar- 1 tbsp
Procedure:
Take Sugar and curd in a large mixing bowl.
Whisk it well till the sugar dissolves and incorporates fully with the curd.
Now add oil to it. I'm using sunflower oil here. You can use any beutral odourless oil instead. You can evwn substitute it with butter. The reason why I prefer using oil instead of butter is that, cakes made using oil stay soft throughout, whereas cakes made using butter can turn slightly hard in low temperatures as butter tends to harden. That's why cakes made with oil are softer comparatively.
Incorporate the oil with the sweetebed curd mixture. This may take a min or two as you need to emulsify the liquids. Whisk till it turns to a homoeopathic mixture.
Now add Vanilla essense and lemon juice to it and mix well
Now add lemon zest and orange zest to it. The original recipe calls for only lemon zest, but I thought to incorporate orange zest too for a fresh zesty aroma. I usually remove peels from oranges and sun dry them and refrigerate it. And then later I soak them in water for 10 mins and chop them finely and use them in desserts. This way you can enjoy the taste of orange zest even when they are not in season.
Now sieve together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
Add half of the dry mix to the wet mix. Mix using cut and fold method.
Now add the remaining dry mix and mix using cut fold method. Make sure to not over mix it.
Now add milk to it along with some yellow food colour. You can skip colour if you want, but the yellow pop of colour will surely make it look more appetizing.
Mix again and let it rest for a min.
Pour the batter in a greased and lined microwave-safe loaf mould. Tap it to release air bubbles.
Microwave for 3 mins on high. The cake might be ready by now. Insert a toothpick and if it comes out clean the cake is ready.
Once the cake is ready, let it cool down before demoulding.
Mix together water, sugar and lemon juice to make sugar syrup. Apply generously on the loaf cake once it cools down so that it absorbs it all.
Now mix sugar, lemon juice and milk to make the glaze. Immediately pour it over the cake. Decorate the cake however you love. I personally live it with a few mint leaves.
Sugar Glaze: Generally sugar glaze is made up of sugar powder and milk, but here lemon is added for the balance in flavours and to match the tastes with the loaf cake. Make sure that the sugar powder is smooth without any crystals. Add only 1 tbsp milk and lemon juice to sugar powder and mix well. If needed add more milk. If you've added more milk and it's too runny then sift in some sugar powder. It's that simple.
